Cleaning apparatus for electric shavers



1967 R. B. BROPHY 3,295,204

CLEANING APPARATUS FOR ELECTRIC SHAVERS Filed Feb. 21, 1964 32 34 89 86h 47 L as 95 4s 88 37 9,\ I L i 7O SI 4 38 3 42 43 30 4o INVENTOR.1205527 B .BEOPHY 77 B Ff ATT'O N EV United States Patent Oflfice3,295,204 Patented Jan. 3, 1967 3,295,204 CLEANING APPARATUS FORELECTRIC SHAVERS Robert Brian Brophy, 2501 Sycamore Canyon Road,Montecito, Calif. 93103 Filed Feb. 21, 1964, Ser. No. 346,564 Claims.(Cl. 30-415) power and an additional motor drive are required to operatethe fan and a suitable passageway must be provided in the shaver for thecleaning air stream. Also, when a hair receptacle is utilized, anattachment to the body of the shaver for the receptacle must beprovided.

The present invention utilizes a casing having an air chamber which issurrounded by a flexible side Wall so that it can be squeezed by thefingers to produce an air pumping action. The flow of air provided bythe pumping action is directed over the cuting head assembly to pick upthe hair cuttings which have been collected therein and the air movesthe cuttings into a collection chamber in the casing. The squeezechamber and the collection chamber are located on opposite sides of themotor which drives the eating head assembly so that the motor andcutting head assembly need not be modified to operate in connection withthe present invention. The cap which protects the cutting head assemblywhen not in use, is equipped with a soft liner so that it can be used toseal the space between the fixed and moving cutting members during airflow over the cutting head assembly. The invention is applicable to acutter head assembly having various numbers of individual cutting heads,each comprised of a fixed and a movable cutting member. Also, theinvention can be utilized with either a battery operated motor or with amotor connected to an electric cord.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a cleaningapparatus for electric shavers in which cleaning air flow is produced bysqueezing a flexible portion of an air chamber.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cleaning apparatus forelectric shavers in which a jet of air is passed over the cutting headassembly by squeezing a portion of the shaver casing and deposits thehair Clippings in another portion of the shaver casing.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cleaning apparatus forelectric shavers in which the hair cuttings are not observed during thecleaning operation and in which the hair cuttings are not scatteredabout the room.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cleaning apparatus forelectric shavers in which the protective cover for the cutting headassembly is lined with a sealing material to seal any space between thefixed and movable cutting members.

These and other objects of the invention not specifically set forthabove will become readily apparent from the accompanying descriptionsand drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an electric shaver incorporating thepresent invention.

FIGURE 2 is a vertical section of the electrical shaver of FIGURE 1showing the squeeze chamber and the collection chamber.

FIGURE 3 is a horizontal section along line 3-3 of FIGURE 2 showing theinlet valve for the squeeze chamber and the compartment containing themotor.

FIGURE 4 is an end elevational view along line 44 of FIGURE 2 showingthe flexing of the squeeze chamber.

FIGURE 5 is a transverse vertical section along line 5-5 of FIGURE 2illustrating the cutting head assembly.

FIGURE 6 is a transverse vertical section of a modification of theinvention in which the cutting head assembly comprises a single cuttinghead.

FIGURE 7 is a partial section of a modification of the hair collectionchamber wherein the air screen is located in the side of the chamber.

FIGURE 8 is a plan view of a modification of the air orifice plate whichcontains a plurality of openings for distributing air over the cuttinghead assembly.

Referring to the embodiment of the invention chosen for illustration,casing 10 for the electric shaver consists of an elongated polyethylenebody containing a squeeze chamber 11 at one end and a hair collectingchamber 12 at the other end. Curved wall 13 of chamber 11 is thin andflexible whereas curved wall 14 for chamber 12 is heavy enough to besubstantially rigid. The casing 10 also comprises two rigid side panelportions 15 and 16 which are joined at their ends by rigid transversepanels 17 and 18. The panels 15, 16, 17, and 18 define a central chamber19 which contains a shaver motor 20 and the chamber 19 is closed by abottom cap 21. Chamber 11 has top and bottom walls 22 and 23,respectively, while chamber 12 has top and bottom walls 24 and 25,respectively.

The cutting head assembly 30 has three cutting heads 31, 32, and 33 eachof which comprises a fixed cutting member 34 having sides 35 supportedby a channel member 36. A movable cutting member 37 for each cuttinghead is located within the fixed member 34 and is reciprocated by an arm38 driven by motor 20. The channel members 36 are supported on a support40 located above chamber 19 and extending over a portion of top walls 22and 24. A cap 42 surrounds the cutting head assembly 30 and has thickside walls 43 and 44 which abut the top of panels 15 and 16. Also, thecap 42 has transverse walls 45 and 46 located closely adjacent oppositeends of the cutting heads. Since the side walls 43 and 44 are oppositeto outer sides 35 of cutting heads 31 and 33, these walls form an airpassageway 47 through the cutting head assembly. Thin end Walls 48 and49 of cap 42 project beyond the transverse walls 45 and 46 and abut thetop of curved walls 13 and 14, respectively, in order to enclose thecutting head assembly, except for the cutting head surfaces which extendacross the open top of cap 42. Any suitable fastening means can beutilized to releasably attach the cap 42 to casing 10.

The bottom wall 23 of squeeze chamber 11 contains a circular opening 50defined by an enlarged groove 51 located between a lower solid wallflange 52 and upper fingers 53 which have an air passage 54 betweenthem. A valve plate 55 has its edge located between flange 52 andfingers 53 and is smaller in diameter than groove 51 to provide an airpassage 56 around the edge of the valve plate. When the plate is in itslower position shown in FIGURE 2, the air passage 56 is closed by thewall flange 52 to block opening 50, but when the valve plate is in itsupper position away from flange 52, air can pass through passages 56 and54 into chamber 11. The top Wall 22 of chamber 11 contains a circularopening 60 defined by an enlarged groove 61 located between a lowersolid wall flange 62 and upper fingers 63 having an air passage 64between them. The edge of valve plate 65 is located between wall flange62 and fingers 63 and the plate is smaller in diameter than groove 61 toprovide an air passage 66 around the edge of plate 65. With valve plate65 in its lower position, the wall flange 62 closes the air passage 66and blocks opening 60. However, when valve plate 65 moves away from wallflange 62, air can pass through passage 66 and between fingers 63 intospace 67 covered by cap end wall 48.

The transverse wall 45 contains an air jet opening in the form of arestricted slot 70 which extends across the end of the cutting headassembly and which is located above the level of channel members 36. Thetransverse wall 46 is positioned adjacent support 40 and contains anenlarged opening 71 which has the cross-sectional shape of passage 47 inwhich the cutting head assembly 30 is located. A chamber 72 is containedwithin cap end wall 49 and connects through an opening 73 in top wall 24with the interior of collection chamber 12. Top wall 24 supports a rampsurface 74 which provides a smooth passage through chamber 72 betweenopenings 71 and 73. Also, wall 14 of collecting chamber 12 has aprojection 75 extending across and below opening 73. The bottom wall 25of chamber 12 contains an opening 76 which is covered by a screen 77 andwhich is closed by a plug 78 containing a vent opening 79.

When the shaver is not in use, the cutting head assembly is covered by astandard snap-on cover 85 having top 86 and sides 87 and 88. A layer ofsoft material 89 is secured to the under surface of top 06 so that itcovers the top surface of the cutting head assembly and seals anyopenings existing between fixed cutting members 34 and movable cuttingmembers 37. Also, the layer 89 seals the spaces between the cuttingheads and rollers 90 which extend therebetween. Layer 89 can be formedof any suitable material, such as felt or foam rubber, and the cover hasa ridge 91 on each side which snaps into a grove in cap 42 in order toretain the cover.

The invention is utilized after shaving is completed and the cover 85has been attached over the cutting head assembly 30. Hair cuttingsremoved by the shaving operation are dispersed within the cutting headassembly and the invention is designed to remove these cuttings withoutthe necessity of removing cap 42 and cutting head assembly 30. Bysqueezing the wall 13 of chamber 11, as illustrated in FIGURE 4, the airpressure within the chamber 11 moves valve plate 65 upwardly to open theair passage 64 between fingers 63 and also force valve plate 55 downwardto close opening 50. Thus, air is forced into chamber 67 and through jetslot 70 so that the air enters passageway 47 around the cutting headassembly at increased velocity. The air passing through the cutting headassembly picks up hair cuttings and carries them through chamber 72 andopening 73 and past projection 75 into collection chamber 12. The screen77 retains the clippings in the chamber while the air escapes throughvent opening 79 in plug 78.

When the wall 13 of chamber 11 is released, it returns to its normalconfiguration thereby creating a reduced pressure in chamber 11 whichpulls valve plate 65 downwardly against flange 62 to close opening 60and lifts valve plate 55 to open passage 54 between fingers 53 so that anew charge of air is introduced to chamber 11.

When the fingers again squeeze wall 13, another jet of air is directedfrom slot 70 through the cutting head assembly to pick up additionalcuttings and deposit them in collecting chamber 12. After severalsqueezing actions, substantially .all of the air clippings are removedfrom the cutting head assembly. Since the cover 85 is at tached duringthe squeezing operation, the layer 89 prevents air from escaping frompassage 47 through the openings in the cutting members and around therollers. The ramp surface 74. serves to direct the clippings towardopening 73 and the projection 75 prevents the clippings in collectionchamber 12 from falling back through opening 73 when the shaver isturned upside down. By re-' moving the screen 77 and plug 78, the hairclippings in chamber 12 will drop through opening 77 and a brush can beextended into chamber 12 to assist in removal of the clippings. Onlyoccasional cleaning of chamber 12 will be necessary even though thecutting head assembly is cleaned by the air jet after every shavingoperation.

With heavy use of the shaver, the chamber 12 could become packed withclippings so that the opening 76 is closed. A modification is thereforeprovided in which the screen 77 is replaced by screen 77 (see FIGURE 7)located in side wall 14 above the bottom Wall 25. Thus, the screen willprovide an air vent which will not become clogged and the clippings canbuild up over opening 76 which is closed by a plug 78 having no airvent. In order to obtain a more dispersed distribution of the air overthe cutting head assembly, a modification of the transverse wall 45provides with a plurality of jet openings 95 distributed over the wallarea as illustrated in FIGURE 8. These openings can have the same totalarea as slot 70 but distribute the air at more than one level.

The invention can be applied to a shaver having a single cutting head asillustrated in FIGURE 6. The cutting head 96 consists of a fixed cuttingmember 97 having sides 08 and 99 which are connected by a bottom wall100. The wall 100 and the adjacent portion of the side walls are held ina groove in the top of casing 101 and the movable cutting member 102 isdriven by arm 103 connected with the motor (not shown) located in casing101. A cover 104 has a sidewall 105 which engages the entire top edge ofcasing 101 and a transverse wall 106 extends across the cover adjacentone end of cutting head 96. Wall 106 contains a jet slot 107 fordischarging air into passageway 108 around the cutting head 96. Anothertransverse wall of cover 104, similar to wall 46 of the prior embodimentis located adjacent the other end of the cutting head. It is understoodthat a squeeze chamber (not shown) is located at one end of casing 101for pumping air through slot 107 and that a collection chamber (notshown) is located at the opposite end of casing 101 to receive hairclippings picked up by the air screen in passage 108. The modificationof FIGURE 6 is operated by squeezing the squeeze chamber in the samemanner as the prior embodiment. Since the cover 104 covers the entiretop of the shaver, air cannot escape from the various air passages,except from a vent in the collecting chamber.

I The present invention can be incorporated in any cutting head designregardless of shape. The shaver body 10 can be molded as right and lefthalves and thereafter secured together. Also, the squeeze chamber andcollection chamber could be located in a pedestal separate from theshaver head assembly and motor so that the invention is utilized byattachment of the head assembly and motor to the pedestal. While thecasing 10 is preferably fabricated of polyethylene, other material orcombination of materials can be used. Various other modifications arecontemplated by those skilled in the art without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:

1. A cleaning apparatus for an electric shaver having a cutting headassembly driven by a motor comprising: a casing for said shavercomprising a squeeze chamber, a space for said motor, and a collectionchamher;

a cap member connected to said casing covering the sides of said cuttinghead assembly and having a wall adjacent one end of said assembly;

a cover for closing the top surface of said cutting head assembly andforming with said cap member a passageway through said cutting headassembly;

jet opening means in said wall;

said squeeze chamber adapted for introducing air to said passagewaythrough said jet opening means to blow out the hair cuttings from saidcutting head assembly; and

said collection chamber adapted for collecting hair cuttings removed bythe air flowing through said passageway.

2. A cleaning apparatus as defined in claim 1 wherein said squeezechamber has an entrance opening and an exit opening, first valve meanslocated at said entrance opening and second valve means located at saidexit opening, said exit opening being connected with said jet openingmeans, said valve means alternately opening and closing upon successivesqueezing of said squeeze chamber in order to pump air through said jetopening means.

3. A cleaning apparatus as defined in claim 2 wherein said collectionchamber has an air inlet opening and an air release opening, said inletopening being connected with the discharge end of said passageway, and ascreen covering said air release opening to prevent escape of haircuttings from said collection chamber.

4. A cleaning apparatus as defined in claim 3 having projection meanswithin said collection chamber extend ing across and below said inletopening for preventing escape of hair cuttings through said inletopening upon change in attitude of said casing.

5. A cleaning apparatus for an electric shaver having a cutting headassembly driven by a motor comprising:

means for covering the top and side of said cutting head assembly toform an air passageway therethrough;

a squeeze chamber located at one end of said passageway for directingair through said passageway to remove hair cuttings collected therein;

a collection chamber located at the other end of said passageway forcollecting the hair removed by the air flow through the passageway;

a wall positioned transversely across said one end of said passageway;and

jet opening means in said wall for increasing the velocity at which airis introduced to said passageway from said squeeze chamber.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,899,841 2/1933Acken 3041 1,950,097 3/1934 Brunner 3041.5 2,318,255 5/1943 Nichols30--41.5 X 2,320,807 6/1943 Upham 30-90 2,372,280 3/1945 Johnston 30-902,597,552 5/1952 Wagner 30-90 2,608,756 9/1952 Jepson 309O 2,743,7325/1956 Lovasz 304l 2,747,273 5/1956 Olsson 3041 2,916,821 12/1959 Witmer3041.5 3,139,683 7/1964 Waldman 30-41 3,154,851 11/1964 Erickson 3041.53,176,392 4/1965 Gwinn 3041 3,177,582 4/1965 Curtis 30-90 WILLIAMFELDMAN, Primary Examiner.

MYRON C. KRUSE, Examiner.

1. A CLEANING APPARATUS FOR AN ELECTRIC SHAVER HAVING A CUTTING HEADASSEMBLY DRIVEN BY A MOTOR COMPRISING: A CASING FOR SAID SHAVERCOMPRISING A SQUEEZE CHAMBER, A SPACE FOR SAID MOTOR, AND A COLLECTIONCHAMBER; A CAP MEMBER CONNECTED TO SAID CASING COVERING THE SIDES OFSAID CUTTING HEAD ASSEMBLY AND HAVING A WALL ADJACENT ONE END OF SAIDASSEMBLY; A COVER FOR CLOSING THE TOP SURFACE OF SAID CUTTING HEADASSEMBLY AND FORMING WITH SAID CAP MEMBER A PASSAGEWAY THROUGH SAIDCUTTING HEAD ASSEMBLY; JET OPENING MEANS IN SAID WALL;